The USC Trojans are one of the top destinations for class of 2026 defensive lineman Tiki Hola. He visited USC last season when the Trojans hosted the Penn State Nittany Lions. 

Hola is a four-star recruit out of Bastrop, Texas and is ranked as the No. 30 defensive lineman in his class per 247Sports. He spoke to On3 about the top five schools on his list and he revealed what he looks for in a school.

Tiki Hola spoke to On3 on Jan. 12 about the update on his recruitment. Hola posted on his social media that his top five schools are currently the Texas Longhorns, USC Trojans, Oregon Ducks, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, and SMU Mustangs. He plans to announce his commitment decision in July this year. 

Hola talked about what is the biggest factor in his decision.

“I look at relationships. That’s always what I’ve looked at since my freshman year, since I started my recruiting process…not only does my relationship with the position coach matter, but also having a relationship with the head coach is big for me,” Hola said. “Also, I am looking at the development that a school can give me and how I can become a better person and a better player there.”

The chance to immediately start and play is low on the list of priorities for Hola. 

“The last thing is where I fit on the depth chart and how valuable I feel on the team,” Hola said.

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Tiki Hola was asked about the visits he’s gone on to his top schools. Here’s what he had to say about his trip to USC.

“My visit to USC was great. I loved seeing all the different cultures and all the different things that they do. USC has a lot of history behind it,“ Hola said. “The stadium was beautiful. The Coliseum was a great environment to be in and the coaches made us feel welcome.”

Hola noted how good of a job the USC coaching staff has done throughout the recruiting process.

“Coach Shaun Nua (USC Defensive End Coach) and Aaron Amaama (USC Personnel Assistant), they’ve done a really good job recruiting me,” Hola said. “The enviroment and culture they have were great. Being able to see everyone in person there was phenomenal, from the facilities to the coaches. They treated us right.”

Hola also had many good things to say about his other visits to schools, so USC is by no means the front runner. Hola raved about the Longhorns and Fighting Irish.

“The relationship that I’ve built with coach Baker, the defensive line coach there, is great,” said Hola about Texas to On3. “We talk about how valuable I am to them. Coach Baker really makes me feel welcome. He loves to talk to me about my family and loves getting to know me personally… They make me feel welcome. Another thing is Texas is not too far from home.” 

As for Notre Dame, which is competing in the College Football National Championship on Monday, Hola likes the traditions and coaching staff.

“Coach Marcus Freeman, coach Al Golden… and coach Al Washington, they’ve all done a really good job of keeping in touch with me, especially as they’re going on this national championship run,” Holsa said to On3. “They’ve consistently texted me every week about everything that they’re going through in practice for all these big games that they’re heading into… They have great culture, a great history and the development that they’ve had coming into this new year was great.”

Sounds like Hola is still very much weighing his options.

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Texas Southern University (5-10, 4-0 SWAC) sent shockwaves through the conference after defeating Jackson State University (5-10, 3-1 SWAC), 69-54, with 927 spectators at Health & Physical Education Arena in Houston, Texas.  

Thursday’s victory for the Lady Tigers of Texas Southern was the first in ten games. TSU had not defeated a Jackson State team since Jan. 21, 2019, at HP&E Arena.  

That was Tomekia Reed’s first visit to Houston as the JSU Tigers head women’s basketball coach.

“Taking care of home and protecting home is obviously important,” Coach Vernette Skeete said in her postgame interview. “I’m really excited to see our fans come out and support us. Some of those lows when they were going on runs and they were stopping us, and hurting our play with the play calls of the fouls and things like that, the fans really got us going and gotten us over the hump and helped us find our juice back. So we were able to stop some of those runs before they got really going. Super excited about the fans tonight.”

Aylasia Fantroy led with 20 points, six rebounds, two blocks, and a steal in a commanding performance by the TSU Tigers. She has been a great addition to Texas Southern this season.

Deija Holmes was their top rebounder with 8 points. Treasure Thompson contributed 9 points and five rebounds and added three blocks.

“We just want to compete every night. We wanna execute every night. We want to get some of them to their best games, and we still have so much more in their games we’re trying to expand and get to…because we care about more statements they make in the postseason, not really during the season number 4.”

Coach Skeete’s team entered halftime leading, 41-25, with a scoring efficiency of 39.53% from the floor and 3-of-8 from 3-point range.   

The Lady Tigers finished scoring 29-of-69 (42.0%), 3-of-7 in treys, and 61.5% from the free throw line.

Jackson State struggled with Texas Southern’s defense in the first half, scoring 26.5% and going 1-for-8 from beyond the arc.  

JSU completed the game, going 17-of-65 (26.2%) for the field, 11.1% in three-pointers, and 18-of-29 (62.1%) at the charity stripe.

Texas Southern excelled in the paint, scoring 46 points compared to Jackson State’s 28, with a points off turnovers differential of 16 to 6.  

The TSU Tigers also received 24 points from their bench, while JSU’s bench contributed only 13 points.  

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Texas Southern will host Alcorn State at 3 PM CT inside H&PE Arena on Saturday, Jan. 18, before next week’s games against Alabama State (Jan. 23) and Alabama A&M (Jan. 25).

The Bowie State (9-7, 1-3 CIAA) men’s basketball team achieved a stunning upset defeating Howard (8-10,3-0 MEAC) by a score of 76-73 in front of 2,100 spectators at Burr Gymnasium.

The match was highly competitive as Warren Mouganda led the Bulldogs with 26 points, 8 rebounds, and a steal in the exciting crosstown HBCU showdown.

Justin Morrisey and Victory Noboya each contributed 12 points in the conquest over the Bison.

It’s the second Bowie State win this season against an HBCU Division I program. The Bulldogs beat Hampton 73-71 in the exhibition game this past October.

Game Highlights

The game was exciting from start to finish, with both teams exchanging leads throughout the contest. Bowie State’s resilience and determination after trailing by two points to Howard at halftime, 42-40.

The Bulldogs shot 46.88% from the floor in the first half but increased their efficiency to 53.57% in the second half. BSU knocked 50% of its shots, drained 45.8% of three-pointers, and hit 71.4% from the charity stripe.

The visitors scored 32 points in the paint and 21 points from turnovers, dominating Howard, who only recorded 22 paint points and 12 points off turnovers.

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• Michelin Guide expanded to Texas for the first time in 2024, awarding stars to four barbecue spots.
• La Barbecue, InterStellar BBQ, LeRoy and Lewis Barbecue, and Corkscrew BBQ got Michelin stars.
• I ordered food at all four spots and found Corkscrew BBQ was my favorite.

Live in Texas long enough, and you’ll inevitably become fluent in barbecue. After all, barbecue joints here feel as numerous as Starbucks locations.

So, it’s perhaps no surprise that the Michelin Guide awarded stars to four barbecue spots in Texas when it expanded to the state for the first time in 2024.

In November, la Barbecue, InterStellar BBQ, Corkscrew BBQ, and LeRoy and Lewis Barbecue each received a Michelin star. All of them are in Austin except for Corkscrew BBQ, which is located in the tiny town of Spring, just north of Houston.

As a Texas local, I visited all four Michelin-starred barbecue spots to see if they lived up to the hype.